Chara takes aim at Hardest Shot immortality

Meet the hardest shot king

Al Iafrate was renowned for having one of the hardest shots in NHL history. He would wind up and the explosion of stick on puck led to 152 goals and 463 points in 799 games.

Iafrate won three of the first five hardest-shot competitions at the All-Star SuperSkills competition, including a record 105.2 mph laser that surely stretched the nylon netting to its extreme breaking point.

Iafrate's slap shot was all power and drive and strength, macho force to the extreme.

Years later, Iafrate is asked just how he was able to generate so much force on his shot, how was he able to set the speed limit so high?

"I could tell you but I'd have to kill you," he says with a chuckle.

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 240 pounds, there's little doubt the Dearborn, Mich., native still could do just that, even today.

But thankfully, he was just joking. There was no joking, though, when it came to describing just how he was able to unleash a shot that weakened the knees of the stoutest shot blockers. It was a unique style that few, if any, players have duplicated.

"It's definitely fundamental differences in technique in the way I shot," Iafrate said.

Part of what made Iafrate's shot so great was his ability to handle the puck. Growing up in Michigan, Iafrate played on a Detroit Compuware junior team with Pat Lafontaine and Alfie Turcotte. It was Turcotte's father, Real, who helped Iafrate hone his skills.

"Turcotte's stickhandling school. That's where I learned it," said Iafrate. "How to handle the puck, all the different moves he was teaching, the only way to do those moves was to move the bottom hand. The bottom hand is always moving on the stick. It's never on the same part of the stick."

There were no worries about that when he took part in the hardest-shot competitions. Iafrate could take a stride or two, get a full wind-up and unleash his full fury.

"Back in the day when you had to qualify (in team skills contests), I had shots that were over 106 – 106.9, 106.7. The actual record, it's from the All-Star Game. That's where the record is set. That's understandable. It was fun doing it. It was fun because the fans really like that stuff."

-- Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Staff Writer

The event is officially called the Cisco NHL Hardest Shot competition, but could just as easily be labeled the "So, you think I have a fun job" competition.

The NHL Goaltenders union has a point. Watching an array of All-Stars crank away to see how has the hardest shot gives you an appreciation of how tough -- and daft! -- their jobs are.

Since the net is mercifully empty for this competition, perhaps Barcoloungers and umbrella drinks should be served to the masked men as they watch the goings-on.

This time around, Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will be looking for his third straight win after cranking out shots of 103.1 mph in 2008 and 100.4 in 2007.

"It does (feel good to defend the title) because there is a lot of pressure and guys really want to win that event," Chara said after winning in Atlanta. "It's probably one of the most exciting events at the All-Star (festivities). So, yeah, it's good."

Chara didn't have an easy time last season. His first blast didn't register on the radar, and Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier was hawking his every shot with some prodigious drives of his own, including a 101.9 mph blast that led the competition for quite a spell.

After Chara registered 101.4 on his first shot, a full mile-per-hour faster than his winning blast the previous year in Dallas, Lecavalier figured his 101.9 wasn't going to stand.

"After his first shot he got 101.4, so I said I know his next shot is going to be harder," Lecavalier said. "It doesn't matter. We're on the same team and we won the event."

Chara is the League's largest player ever at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, and he put every last inch and pound into his second blast, thanks to a fast stride and his explosive legs. The key, though, was keeping the shot close to the ice.

"The first one didn't feel really good. I went too high, but the meter didn't give us any measurement and I got another two," Chara said. "I knew I had to go a little lower and use more of my body. You can't go really high. You have to keep it probably as low as 10 inches off the ice."

Chara, though, still hasn't come close to topping Al Iafrate's mind-blowing 105.2 mph slapper that he ripped at the 1993 Skills Competition at The Forum in Montreal. Chara isn't sure if he'll ever top that one.

"I would like to, but I don't know if it will ever be broken," Chara said. "Back then they skated into the shot all the way from the red line. We have to start at the blue line. It would be nice to get it done, but it will be very hard to do it."